PANAJI
The one-man commission under former Bombay High Court judge, Justice V K Jadhav is finally expected to begin inquiry into cases of land grab.
Justice Jadhav arrived in Goa on Monday, over two months after he first visited the State to check preliminary preparations to start work. Government sources said he is likely to commence inquiry on Wednesday while the Special Investigation Team (SIT) will assist by way of sharing progress of investigation into each First Information Reports as well as preliminary inquiry into complaints.
On August 30, 2022 Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced appointing the Commission to settle all cases of land grabbing at the earliest. However, lengthy procedures by the government delayed the process. The Commission, appointed under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952, will have to complete its inquiry in four months and it is also expected to make recommendations on the fate of forged properties and changes in the existing law, if any.
The SIT is meanwhile investigating 44 cases as on Tuesday that has seen 23 arrests and re-arrests of seven accused.
“A total of 23 persons are arrested into cases of land grab. Of these six are government employees including a Sub Registrar, Mamlatdar, driver and three staff of Archives Department,” Superintendent of Police (SIT-Land Grab) Nidhin Valsan told The Goan.
Out of the total arrests, mastermind Muhammad Suhail Shafi has been arrested six times while his accomplice and kingpin Rajkumar Maithi is sent behind the bars four times. Driver of Bardez Mamlatdar Yogesh Vazarkar; Royson Rodrigues, Amruth Govekar, Sandric Fernandes and Record Attendant with Archaeology Department Dhiresh Naik are arrested two times each.
Valsan, to another question, disclosed that the SIT received 451 complaints of which 44 are registered while closure reports of around 150 complaints are submitted to the court and the remaining are under inquiry. The closure reports also comprise of a matter pertaining to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s ancestral property at Assagao.
With Braverman’s family deciding to amicably settle the alleged scam pertaining to its ancestral property in Assagao, the SIT had last November sought legal opinion before filing a closure report in the Court.
The file comprising the case status and the complainant family’s communication with the State functionaries was sent to the Law Department of the Goa government for scrutiny.
The SIT had taken over the probe after Suella’s father Crishtie Fernandes, in his mail to the Goa government and the State police, alleged that two of his ancestral properties in Assagao were usurped. After a preliminary inquiry, the SIT registered a FIR last September but the case later turned out to be a family feud.
“Some cases are transferred back to police stations because these are not under the terms of reference of SIT while some others are closed if no cognisance offence made out. Those cases pending investigation will be expeditiously completely” the officer added as he explained status of the overall probe.
The SIT constitutes of officers from Crime Branch, Revenue Department, Sub Registrar Office and Archives. A Portuguese expert nominated by Goa University is also on board to help the investigation agency translate the archives which are in Portuguese language.
